Trump’s last dinner guest: Nick Fuentes, white supremacist

In a statement that Mr. Trump did not name but was issued in response to the Fuentes dinner, Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said: “We strongly condemn and call for the virulent anti-Semitism of Kanye West and Nick Fuentes all political leaders to reject their hate messages and refuse to meet with them.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, condemned Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Fuentes.

“Nick Fuentes is one of the most prominent and outspoken anti-Semites in the country,” said Mr. Greenblatt in a brief interview. “He is a vicious fanatic and known Holocaust denier who has been condemned by leaders from both political parties here, including the RJC.”

Mr Greenblatt added that the idea that Mr Trump “or any serious contender for higher office would meet with him and endorse him by sharing a meal and spending time is appalling. And really, you can’t say you reject hate and break bread with haters. As simple as that.”

Mr. Fuentes, who attended the bloody far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, is best known for leading a white nationalist youth organization called America First, whose supporters call themselves the Groypers, or Groyper Army. Following Mr Trump’s defeat in 2020, Mr Fuentes and the Groypers have been involved in a series of public events in support of the former president.

At a so-called “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington in November 2020, Mr. Fuentes urged his followers “storm every state capital by January 20, 2021, when President Trump is inaugurated for another four years.” The following month, at a similar event, Mr. Fuentes led a crowd by chanting “Destroy the GOP” and urging people not to vote in the January 2021 Georgia Senate runoff.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Fuentes led a large group of groypers to the Capitol, where they rallied outside in support of Mr. Trump. The next day, Mr. Fuentes wrote on Twitter that the attack on the Capitol “was awesome and I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t.”